Tuesday, September 24, 2013

This comforting pork stew recipe is exactly the kind of
homey dish you want waiting for you after a long, hard week…and maybe a 13-hour
drive. Unfortunately, I made this last week, so I couldn’t actually enjoy it
today, after a long, hard week and 13-hour drive, but just editing it made me
feel better. It was that good.

This stew version is inspired by the classic Italian recipe,
“maiale al latte,” or “pork in milk,” but instead of the usual moo juice, I
decided to make my own with chicken broth and crème fraiche. I figured I’d get
the same basic viscosity and fat content (okay, maybe a tad more), but also a
little more flavor, and a better texture once reduced.

I topped it with some fried sage, which is an optional, messy,
but delicious extra step, and makes this much more restauranty. Simply heat a
1/2-inch of vegetable oil in a small pan, and toss in some (not wet!) whole
sage leaves. Fry until crisp, about 10-15 seconds

The classic preparation involves braising and slicing a
whole roast, but one taste and I think
you’ll agree it translates beautifully to the stew delivery system. I really
hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

1 1/2 pound pork shoulder, cut in 2-inch cubes (note: I only
had 1 pound, but the recipe will work with another half, which will make four
nice portions)

48 comments:

I've been considering purchasing an enameled cast iron pan similar to the one you use to brown the meat in the video. My main reason is that I'm terrible about keeping my regular old cast iron pan seasoned properly. Do you think that an enameled pan would make an appropriate substitute, or should I just get my s*** together and learn to season my pan?

Chef John - love your recipes and videos. I have made many and they have all been great! For this recipe - I am not a fan of crème fraiche so may I substitute milk instead of the chicken broth and maybe a little butter at the end to finish the sauce? Thanks again, KLee

Hello there! I truly enjoy reading and looking at this dish, so this will be my first culinary endeavor I try of yours! ONE QUESTION THOUGH: It hasn't been easy for me to find creme fraiche, what can be a good alternative?

Hello there! I truly enjoy reading and looking at this dish, so this will be my first culinary endeavor I try of yours! ONE QUESTION THOUGH: It hasn't been easy for me to find creme fraiche, what can be a good alternative?

Let's see...bacon...pork shoulder...creme fraiche...days turning cool. Looks about perfect. This is going on the short list of stews to try. I even have a nice big sage plant that needs using this time of year.

BTW Chef: I didn't have this information when you were asking for places to try between SFO and SEA but I tried a pork chop (yes a chop, just keep listening) from a new meat market in Portland called Tails and Trotters. They hazelnut finish their pigs and the creamy fat layer on that chop was just amazing. The price is higher than typical pastured pigs but soooo worth it for a treat. They also have a deli there so next year you can pick up some sannies for the drive and put some pig in the cooler.

I top my Saltimbocca with fried sage leaves, just like this dish. But I fry the sage first using the same pan I'm going to use for the main dish. I set them aside on a paper towel, pour off any excess oil if necessary, and go ahead with cooking the Saltimbocca. This saves making another pan dirty, flavors the oil a little bit, and conserves a little oil.

Sounds excellent. Would a little trotter gear (gelatinous pork stock from pigs feet - I'd never heard of it until yesterday and had to Google it) kick up the pork goodness even more or would it be too heavy?

We just made this, it was absolutely delicious! We served it atop a light cauliflower puree instead of polenta, encircled by sauteed spinach. Having never stewed anything in milk/cream/dairy products before, this was mindblowing.

I'm not familiar with sage but usually, herbs are not thrown in the beginning as they quickly lose their flavor and aroma. In this recipe, sage was cooked for over an hour. Wouldn't it make more sense to add it near the end?

Chef J, I tried this recipe last night for the first time and I made the polenta to go with it. WOW!!! This is high praise as my autistic son, whom is a very picky eater, had 2 huge helpings! My boyfriend loved it so much he said we need to make it again since I had the other half of the pork roast left, so will probably make it again tonight. The problem I ran into was nowhere close had fresh sage. I picked up fresh rubbed sage from the health food store and it seemed to work, will just need to add a bit more. This was very easy to make and so rich and comforting. Will certainly be trying more of your dishes.

This was awesome! Made one minor change - I tasted the gravy at the end and it was really really rich (and good) but I thought it needed something to cut it a bit so I threw a splash of white wine in and it was perfect. I'd probably add it at the beginning when I make this again! YUM.

Thank you Chef John, my wife made this last night and it was heaven here in my home. We love your recipes because they are always delicious. She made hers with sour creme instead of the creme fraiche, but next time we will use creme fraiche to see if its more heavenly. Thanks again.

Chef John, this was amazing! I've now made it twice in the past three days to help stock my college age son's freezer after the holidays. He's a picky eater but LOVED this dish. Thanks for a fantastic recipe!

Hello Chef John, I just want to thank you for teaching us to cook right:)) I've been enjoying watching your videos and reading your blogs..you are very funny, it makes a difference watching your videos.. in a very good way!!! Very inspirational!! So far, I've been learning a lot and my family enjoys your recipes. I'm cooking the Pork al Latte for dinner tonight (with rice) can you give me suggestions on what vegetable recipe that best goes with it?

I made this tonight followed the recipe exactly. I did double the recipe because we had a 3 lb. pork roast. It was devoured!(by 5 people.) Hubby went crazy over it. Thanks Chef John for a fabulous recipe.

This is delicious! My grocery store didn't have CF so I used heavy cream instead. It turned out wonderful and full of flavor. Husband said to add it to the regular rotation. We served it with some high quality whole egg egg noodles as our store also didn't sell polenta. It was great with the pasta.

Awesome! Made my own crème fraiche as well - incredible! Even watched the South Park crème fraiche video (too much). Anyway, I will be making this again and I will try it with polenta, I used wide egg noodles, coating the hot noodles with crème fraiche for the fun of it - all of it was one of the best pork stews I have ever had. Everyone loved it!

This is one of my favourite recipes. When I need something that will definitely come out delicious and doesn't require much work, this is what I make. I had some iberico shoulder and some guanciale (pork jowl bacon) this week and wanted to make something special, so I decided to put a bit of a twist on this recipe.

I added some ginger (about as much as garlic), some red miso paste (about two heaped tablespoons), a tablespoon of brown sugar and a few squeezes of lime juice. I meant to throw in some orange zest, but by the time I had made that decision, I could only get my hands on treated ones, so I left it out. I also thought about adding carrots, but decided against that and instead served it on carrot-potato mash.

It was spectacular! The dish did not taste of miso, but instead that addition created an incredibly round umami flavour in the background and turned out to be one of the best things I have ever made.﻿